Director's Take: Sunrise in Gibraltar

Hey, everyone! How are you all holding up after that explosive Spotlight presentation? Hopefully you're doing better than Winston's base of operations...or Doomfist.

Many of last year's Director's Takes ended with a wink and nod about a bigger, bolder era of Overwatch that we couldn't wait to tell you about. And it's finally here!! I can't say enough about how excited Team 4 is to finally let the (Jetpack) cat out of the bag and show you much of what we've been working on. Let's talk about what all of this means for you, our story, and Overwatch as a whole.

A New Era

If you missed Spotlight, be sure to check out the VOD or our recap blog to get caught up on everything coming to Season 1 (formerly known as Season 21) which launches on Feb. 10. This is the most expansive season in Overwatch history, built upon a foundation that's close to our hearts: a dedicated emphasis on story and lore, complete with five new Heroes that will tip the scales on both sides of the ongoing conflict between Talon and Overwatch. There are new Hero Sub Roles, a massive UI/UX Refresh, Competitive updates, Stadium updates, exciting collabs, and tons of other additions to get excited about.

The party won't stop in Season 1, either. We've committed to releasing ten Heroes in 2026 to celebrate Overwatch's tenth anniversary and you can expect more maps, more systems, and more features as the year goes on.

Last year, many of you said that Overwatch seemed to be in its most competitive state. We agree! But we noticed as both creators and fans ourselves that we missed that connection to the world and our Heroes. If you've been with us over the past decade, we hope this new story arc will thrill you. If this is your valiant return to the world of Overwatch or your first time hearing Winston's call, welcome in and enjoy the ride.

Right Time, Right Place

A very valid question might be running through your mind hearing all this news: why now? If we had this idea for a massive season full of lore and new features, why didn't we decide to pull the ripcord earlier? The obvious answer is that this year marks Overwatch's tenth anniversary and it's hard to beat that opportunity to go bigger than ever before. But the real answer is a little more nuanced.

After we pivoted away from PvE content, it took some time for us to find our footing and refocus on what we truly wanted Overwatch to be: a compelling, engaging FPS title all about core competitive PvP experiences. Perks added a new layer of strategy to our core gameplay, Stadium offered a fresh PvP experience, and little quality-of-life changes like a new progression system and regular patches helped us create a solid foundation to build on for the future.

To be honest, we couldn't have done this a year ago. Throwing ten (!!) Heroes into the mix would've complicated our mission of establishing Overwatch as an FPS title ready to last another decade. Think of it like building a house: you wouldn't buy a hundred paintings before the walls were painted, would you?

We're pleased with the current state of Overwatch and think this is the next logical step for our team, our game, and our story to take. Now that we have a stable foundation, we can focus on elevating and evolving Overwatch to its peak potential.

Our Best Is Now

Something was (intentionally) missing in our Spotlight program and all the trailers, blogs, and story elements we've shown this week. A complete and total surprise that no one was able to decipher…. We've dropped the "2" from Overwatch's title and the reason ties deeply into our philosophy about the universe and game going forward.

When folks think of Overwatch 2, they may have a different game in mind than the one we have in front of us right now. That's fair. Lots of things have changed since we originally announced a sequel. But the presence of that number led to expectations and community discussion (whether serious or not) that "Overwatch 3" must be coming. It created a mental framework which locked people into the idea that dropping a big sequel was the only way to truly elevate our game.

This "rebrand" is more of a refocus, both for our team and our community. The title you're playing right now is what Team 4 is fully committed to. We're putting our time and energy into an evolving, always-on live service game-not a potential sequel with a release date years down the line. Our goal is to make Overwatch into the best possible version of itself with every update and we're thrilled to have you along for that journey.

Thank you for reading and as always, let's make a great game.